Georges Rochegrosse

French painter, printmaker and illustrator. Stepson of the poet Théodore de Banville, he came from a literary and artistic background.

Rochegrosse (1859-1938), a pupil of Boulanger, did a great many official portraits and historical paintings, as well as magazine illustrations (La Vie Parisienne) and engravings for books. A skilled illustrator, Rochegrosse honed his technique on a number of books by literary giants of his time: Theophile Gautier, Gustave Flaubert, Victor Hugo, and others.

He was a man of his time, one of the establishment, whose paintings brought large prices from a French public who loved his subjects and admired his technique. Raymond Rudorff, in the Belle Epoque, states that Rochegrosse ''was to painting what Cecil B. DeMille was to costume films and he was a popular favorite until the early years of the century''.

Rochegrosse was also a member of the Societe des Artistes Francais. He became an officer of the Legion d''honeur in 1910, and he enjoyed a long association with the Autombile Club of France, designing at least three posters for their yearly shows.